Aug 1, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Otto Kemp tosses a ball during batting practice at Citizens Bank Park. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
PHILADELPHIA — With the Atlanta Braves set to start Martín Pérez Friday and Chris Sale Saturday, it's going to be a big weekend for the much-maligned right-handed bats of the Phillies.
From a big-picture sense, that means Alec Bohm (19 OPS+) and Adolis García (.686 OPS) need to heat up. J.T. Realmuto is hitting .273 with a .759 OPS. At this stage of his career, the Phillies would probably be thrilled for him to finish the season around those marks. But he can't be the top right-handed hitting threat on the team.
The Phillies are short on right-handed hitting. It's why they tried to sign Bo Bichette. It's why they arguably should have pivoted to Eugenio Suárez when his market cratered, although he hasn't had a particularly strong start for the Cincinnati Reds after signing a one-year/$15 million deal. Clearly, adding at least one right-handed hitter is going to be the top priority for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in advance of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
In the meantime, the Phillies need more from the right-handed bats on the team. Two more are in the lineup Friday, with Edmundo Sosa playing second base and Otto Kemp in left field. At some point, the Phillies need multiple righties to start hitting.
"Well, the one thing is, two of our right-handed bats — Sosa and Kemp — have not had a whole lot of at-bats," Rob Thomson said Friday afternoon. "So timing is sometimes an issue with that, and contact point is an issue with that. You gotta keep rolling them out there, see what we got."
That may be true, although it could start to get late early this weekend for Kemp if he doesn't come through Friday (and Saturday, assuming he once again starts in left field.)
Sosa could cut into Bohm's playing time, but the Phillies aren't going to move on from Bohm in season, particularly with Aidan Miller (back) still not even swinging a bat. García isn't necessarily guaranteed to be an everyday player all season if he doesn't produce more consistently at the plate, but $10 million assures he's here for 2026. Realmuto is in the first season of a three-year/$45 million deal. Sosa is in his contract year, but he consistently mashes left-handed pitching.
The one right-handed hitter on the roster that the Phillies could pivot from is Kemp, who has two remaining minor-league options. The Phillies consistently talked him up all offseason — perhaps setting up unrealistic expectations — but he's gotten out of the gates slowly. It's been an adventure in left field, but that could probably be tolerated if Kemp was hitting. He's not, as he has eight strikeouts and just two hits in 16 at-bats.
As Thomson noted, Kemp really hasn't gotten a chance to hit consistently. Although, as the platoon partner for Brandon Marsh, his role requires him to be able to thrive even without consistent at-bats. So far, there's been no signs of the guy who forced his way onto the postseason roster last September by homering four times, driving in 11 runs and making hard contact on a frequent basis. Add in that he may need more fine tuning in left field, and it would be easy for the Phillies to send Kemp out to Triple-A Lehigh Valley if he doesn't turn things around at the plate this weekend. The 26-year-old could hit more often for the IronPigs, and refine himself defensively, be it in left field or somewhere else.
Who would be the next man up if the Phillies did option Kemp in the near future?
Felix Reyes is tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A, with a .316 batting average and .908 OPS, building on a strong campaign at Double-A Reading last season. The problem is he's more of a DH/first baseman, with Thomson saying that "he needs reps" when asked if Reyes' outfield defense is rough.
Bryan De La Cruz is probably the guy who would get the first call. The 29-year-old has appeared in parts of five MLB seasons with the Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates and Braves. He's hitting .254 with four homers, 14 RBIs and an .837 OPS for the IronPigs after some impressive moments in the spring. He's traditionally been more of an even splits guy — he has a .697 OPS against lefties in his MLB career, as opposed to .698 vs. righties — but the Phillies may soon need to see if he can help them to make more of an impact against southpaws than they have to this point.
Of course, Kemp could come out Friday and Saturday and produce offensively, squashing the conversation, at least for a few days. Bohm and/or García having good at-bats could also take some of the focus off of Kemp. But if things don't start to look better for the 8-10 Phillies this weekend, Kemp might end up getting the short end of the stick, even if the issues with right-handed hitting run much deeper than someone who has had less than 20 at-bats this year.
